Stathakis appoints Shelby Township's first deputy supervisor

A former newspaper reporter is the first deputy supervisor in Shelby Township history.

Brad Bates, 33, a Central Michigan University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, was appointed Thursday as deputy to Shelby Township Supervisor Rick Stathakis.

For the past decade, Bates worked as a reporter for C&G Newspapers, community-oriented weekly publications that dot the Tri-County area. Bates worked the past two years as a reporter for the Shelby-Utica News.

During his tenure with C&G, Bates also helped create and establish social media and carried the title of Social Media Director for all 19 C&G publications.

“Mr. Bates will undoubtedly help to interact with residents as we strive to deliver services in the most-productive manner,” Stathakis said in a news release announcing the appointment.

“In my time working with him as a reporter, he always demonstrated a very real concern for our residents and held their needs above all else.”

A resident of Ferndale, Bates was a lifelong Macomb County resident prior to his marriage in 2008. He grew up in Warren and later moved to Sterling Heights.

He and his wife, Anne, have a baby daughter, Katherine.

Bates will earn a salary of $52,000.

“I am honored and blessed to have the opportunity to continue to serve the people of Shelby Township in this new position,” Bates said in the same news release. “I look forward to working with Supervisor Stathakis as we help the community grow and prosper.”

State law requires township clerks and treasurers to employ deputies to assist and even fill in for them if necessary. But the law makes no such demand of the supervisor position.

Since its inception in the mid-1950s, no supervisor of Shelby Township had ever appointed a deputy before Stathakis tapped Bates for the role.

When Stathakis asked the Board of Trustees to approve the position in February, the supervisor pointed out he had not replaced an administrative assistant who had retired last summer. The assistant earned $59,000, so Stathakis said the appointment of a deputy supervisor will save Shelby Township taxpayers $7,000 in salary each year.

As an appointed deputy, Bates will serve as the pleasure of the supervisor.